thoughts on gtr
08-19-2017, 10:33 AM
#11
It's the next car I'm going to add to the garage. I think 14-15 model years offer the best improvements and power. The 17 interior looks a bit nicer, might snatch that up if the timing works.
Claiming it's numb on a forum that says the NSX has feedback is hypocritical. The two cars feel nearly the same when driven hard. If you've never been around one on the track it's certainly not boring. The constant leg humping of the S2k and it's amazing feel suggests to me most of you haven't driven a car with true road feel. When the S2k was launched it was claimed to have very numb steering. Almost 20 years later it's the benchmark? hmm.
What does happen to GTR owners is the quest for more power. Here's how it seems to play. The car is so fast and balanced that to get the thrill of less car you need to go a lot faster. This pushes people to get into the 700-1k HP range to keep feeling that rush after the initial 0-60 thrills wear off. I think this is not a fault of the 'feedback' but the simple fact that balanced cars don't thrill. My daily driver is extremely planted at 150 and you just can't believe you're going so fast.
Co-worker has been daily driving one for the last 5 years. Including snow and ice covered roads. No issues, no expensive repairs but his rate of tickets might have gone up. It does have a 60k service that is spark plugs, tranny, and coolant. Dealers charge a lot for this. Brakes have come down and there is after market support. Rubber will set you back if you drive it hard. The value in the used marked is what has caught my attention. They're now half price, and sitting on dealers lots. They'll keep dropping in value but not as fast as other cars. The hand built engine and tranny in Japan, broken in by Nissan before delivery and almost 10 years later still crushing other cars. That's pretty neat in my opinion. The performance for dollar is unmatched, they're extremely reliable and comfortable; on and off the track.
I'd by a garage queen and enjoy it.
Claiming it's numb on a forum that says the NSX has feedback is hypocritical. The two cars feel nearly the same when driven hard. If you've never been around one on the track it's certainly not boring. The constant leg humping of the S2k and it's amazing feel suggests to me most of you haven't driven a car with true road feel. When the S2k was launched it was claimed to have very numb steering. Almost 20 years later it's the benchmark? hmm.
What does happen to GTR owners is the quest for more power. Here's how it seems to play. The car is so fast and balanced that to get the thrill of less car you need to go a lot faster. This pushes people to get into the 700-1k HP range to keep feeling that rush after the initial 0-60 thrills wear off. I think this is not a fault of the 'feedback' but the simple fact that balanced cars don't thrill. My daily driver is extremely planted at 150 and you just can't believe you're going so fast.
Co-worker has been daily driving one for the last 5 years. Including snow and ice covered roads. No issues, no expensive repairs but his rate of tickets might have gone up. It does have a 60k service that is spark plugs, tranny, and coolant. Dealers charge a lot for this. Brakes have come down and there is after market support. Rubber will set you back if you drive it hard. The value in the used marked is what has caught my attention. They're now half price, and sitting on dealers lots. They'll keep dropping in value but not as fast as other cars. The hand built engine and tranny in Japan, broken in by Nissan before delivery and almost 10 years later still crushing other cars. That's pretty neat in my opinion. The performance for dollar is unmatched, they're extremely reliable and comfortable; on and off the track.
I'd by a garage queen and enjoy it.
The gtr is very visceral, but like all cars with high limits, when driving around the legal limits ok public roads the car feels sedated thus people saying it's numb. I mean is it a viper or gt3? Of course not, but I get more excitement putting a for through its paces than an s2000. Take it closer to its limits and I dare you say you're bored, let alone expand the cars potential. Dollar for dollar the s2000 gives the most thrills for what most enthusiasts will use it for, and the ownership experience is a great too, I can't think of another sub 30k car that garners as much positive attention as an s2000.
That said I was shocked how stiff a gtr is, and sitting in the car it feels like you're sitting in a suv/truck, may be because of how the interior is laid out. The visibility is weird in that the glass pieces are big but I get a lot of the same feeling I got when I sit in camaros.
I hope to own one someday, or a gtr in general, I feel like if they ever make a blockbuster action movie with an Asian male lead, his car would be a gtr.
08-19-2017, 12:18 PM
#12
Don, I think the S2k offers the best roadster experience for the money. It's not the most performance car for the money. Consider my family sedan laps VIR in the same time the S2k does. Also consider that a if you spend twice as much (30k S2k vs 60k GTR), you're stepping into a super car in the GTR. The s2k doesn't have the brake setup to handle a track day, major oversight from Honda nor does it put down a lot of any one thing. It's not some cornering machine, power monster, lightest car etc. It's just an all round good roadster.
The GTR does a reasonable job hiding it's weight on the track. It is a large car compared to the likes of the S2k. They're really in different leagues though, and it's not really a good cross shop. S2k MSRP $35k GTR 100k+. Is the GTR 3 times more car, in every way you can imagine. Including surprisingly nicer to take on road trips. The GTR has tweaks to the suspense setup over the years. If you want more of the GT version the 17 offers are nicer ride until you turn up the dampening. Other performance cars are harsh on public roads too. So this isn't isolated to the GTR suspension setup.
What you're really getting at is that super cars don't feel good at slow speeds. Jumping in the Viper for a Sunday cruse is pretty boring until you hit some switch backs. Visibility isn't great for city driving, it's low, first goes to 60 so you're not rowing any gears. Yet when you take it into the mountains for some switch backs or off to the track it's a beast with a lot of joy. Cruising back on the freeway you're working the car as the big tires track funny in the road grooves. Same can be said for any high power car, even the Vette's suffer from this. As power has increased gearing needs to get taller to make it more usable. Otherwise you have gearing unusualable, like how the Hellcat runs faster starting in second.
Under powered cars like the s2k allow you to floor it, row the gears and zip around winding the engine out. Fact is slow cars are more fun on city streets. I enjoyed my s2k, but it's not a gold standard. Porsche makes some truly great cars (I don't like the looks) but I'd be hard pressed to say those don't beat out the s2k in so many ways. The 'value' argument cannot be beat on the s2k. When you want more car you really are moving onto other things and you give up certain aspects.
My only complaint about the GTR is that it didn't come with a manual. I get why the design would have made that difficult and the sales volume would have been low. It is ironic that you can get a used GTR that will match a hybrid drive line NSX in performance and weight; for a fraction of the cost.
If you want an s2k replacement you have a bunch of good options now. All with their own take on things. I'm over a drop top so there are more options on my radar. Great thing about life, we might get to own all of the cars we love through out life time
The GTR does a reasonable job hiding it's weight on the track. It is a large car compared to the likes of the S2k. They're really in different leagues though, and it's not really a good cross shop. S2k MSRP $35k GTR 100k+. Is the GTR 3 times more car, in every way you can imagine. Including surprisingly nicer to take on road trips. The GTR has tweaks to the suspense setup over the years. If you want more of the GT version the 17 offers are nicer ride until you turn up the dampening. Other performance cars are harsh on public roads too. So this isn't isolated to the GTR suspension setup.
What you're really getting at is that super cars don't feel good at slow speeds. Jumping in the Viper for a Sunday cruse is pretty boring until you hit some switch backs. Visibility isn't great for city driving, it's low, first goes to 60 so you're not rowing any gears. Yet when you take it into the mountains for some switch backs or off to the track it's a beast with a lot of joy. Cruising back on the freeway you're working the car as the big tires track funny in the road grooves. Same can be said for any high power car, even the Vette's suffer from this. As power has increased gearing needs to get taller to make it more usable. Otherwise you have gearing unusualable, like how the Hellcat runs faster starting in second.
Under powered cars like the s2k allow you to floor it, row the gears and zip around winding the engine out. Fact is slow cars are more fun on city streets. I enjoyed my s2k, but it's not a gold standard. Porsche makes some truly great cars (I don't like the looks) but I'd be hard pressed to say those don't beat out the s2k in so many ways. The 'value' argument cannot be beat on the s2k. When you want more car you really are moving onto other things and you give up certain aspects.
My only complaint about the GTR is that it didn't come with a manual. I get why the design would have made that difficult and the sales volume would have been low. It is ironic that you can get a used GTR that will match a hybrid drive line NSX in performance and weight; for a fraction of the cost.
If you want an s2k replacement you have a bunch of good options now. All with their own take on things. I'm over a drop top so there are more options on my radar. Great thing about life, we might get to own all of the cars we love through out life time
08-19-2017, 04:53 PM
#13
It's the next car I'm going to add to the garage. I think 14-15 model years offer the best improvements and power. The 17 interior looks a bit nicer, might snatch that up if the timing works.
Claiming it's numb on a forum that says the NSX has feedback is hypocritical. The two cars feel nearly the same when driven hard. If you've never been around one on the track it's certainly not boring. The constant leg humping of the S2k and it's amazing feel suggests to me most of you haven't driven a car with true road feel. When the S2k was launched it was claimed to have very numb steering. Almost 20 years later it's the benchmark? hmm.
What does happen to GTR owners is the quest for more power. Here's how it seems to play. The car is so fast and balanced that to get the thrill of less car you need to go a lot faster. This pushes people to get into the 700-1k HP range to keep feeling that rush after the initial 0-60 thrills wear off. I think this is not a fault of the 'feedback' but the simple fact that balanced cars don't thrill. My daily driver is extremely planted at 150 and you just can't believe you're going so fast.
Co-worker has been daily driving one for the last 5 years. Including snow and ice covered roads. No issues, no expensive repairs but his rate of tickets might have gone up. It does have a 60k service that is spark plugs, tranny, and coolant. Dealers charge a lot for this. Brakes have come down and there is after market support. Rubber will set you back if you drive it hard. The value in the used marked is what has caught my attention. They're now half price, and sitting on dealers lots. They'll keep dropping in value but not as fast as other cars. The hand built engine and tranny in Japan, broken in by Nissan before delivery and almost 10 years later still crushing other cars. That's pretty neat in my opinion. The performance for dollar is unmatched, they're extremely reliable and comfortable; on and off the track.
I'd by a garage queen and enjoy it.
Claiming it's numb on a forum that says the NSX has feedback is hypocritical. The two cars feel nearly the same when driven hard. If you've never been around one on the track it's certainly not boring. The constant leg humping of the S2k and it's amazing feel suggests to me most of you haven't driven a car with true road feel. When the S2k was launched it was claimed to have very numb steering. Almost 20 years later it's the benchmark? hmm.
What does happen to GTR owners is the quest for more power. Here's how it seems to play. The car is so fast and balanced that to get the thrill of less car you need to go a lot faster. This pushes people to get into the 700-1k HP range to keep feeling that rush after the initial 0-60 thrills wear off. I think this is not a fault of the 'feedback' but the simple fact that balanced cars don't thrill. My daily driver is extremely planted at 150 and you just can't believe you're going so fast.
Co-worker has been daily driving one for the last 5 years. Including snow and ice covered roads. No issues, no expensive repairs but his rate of tickets might have gone up. It does have a 60k service that is spark plugs, tranny, and coolant. Dealers charge a lot for this. Brakes have come down and there is after market support. Rubber will set you back if you drive it hard. The value in the used marked is what has caught my attention. They're now half price, and sitting on dealers lots. They'll keep dropping in value but not as fast as other cars. The hand built engine and tranny in Japan, broken in by Nissan before delivery and almost 10 years later still crushing other cars. That's pretty neat in my opinion. The performance for dollar is unmatched, they're extremely reliable and comfortable; on and off the track.
I'd by a garage queen and enjoy it.
The following 2 users liked this post by TommyDeVito:
mosesbotbol (08-20-2017),
rob-2 (08-20-2017)
08-20-2017, 06:15 AM
#15
There's no question about how powerful and fast the GTR is, but are you enamored with the looks? I don't find the styling as a compliment to the performance.
08-20-2017, 06:35 AM
#16
Make sure you price the insurance first. When I was shopping the insurance was 3x that of the C7Z I wound up in. It made the decision much easier!
08-20-2017, 09:26 AM
#17
Thread Starter
Thanks for all the responses. Wish i knew how to multi quote lol. I pretty much agree with everything that has been said, except the LS swap. I'm definitely not into that. I feel like the swap changes the s2k plus i dont like the sound of that motor in the s2k. I feel like you should just buy a vette. I'd rather turbo my s2k if anything. Honestly I think a gtr might be in my future, I do wish it came in manual. I hate the fact NA2's are so expensive, because if money were not option I'd TT a NA2 or get the new viper and call it a day. To some extent I feel like the gtr is a happy medium. I have cross shopped a c6zr1 but want to try AWD especially since the viper and NA2 are not in my budget. I know looks are subjective but I do like the look of the gtr. I think it might be time to go for some test drives...
08-20-2017, 11:56 AM
#18
^^
Sounds like you're at a similar place that I am. I'd like a Viper but I'm not ready to own such a dedicated machine again. I've got a son who I want to be able to come with me. The GTR isn't something I look at and say 'Wow that is such a great design' but on the other hand it is functional. I get the engineering behind it and that speaks to me. Looking back on prior GTRs, I couldn't say any of those are attractive. I think in time it will age well.
The Vette isn't a car I want to own. It's not great at the limit. On paper it's an amazing car and certainly a lot of value by it goes from 5/10ths to 10/10ths in a nonlinear fashion. Around here you're either a young kid rocking a c5 or an old dude with gold chains, fake tan and cruise at the speed limit in your auto.
Let me know how your test drives go. I'm monitoring private sale deals. Lots of great dealer options if you're willing that are just sitting on the lot.
Sounds like you're at a similar place that I am. I'd like a Viper but I'm not ready to own such a dedicated machine again. I've got a son who I want to be able to come with me. The GTR isn't something I look at and say 'Wow that is such a great design' but on the other hand it is functional. I get the engineering behind it and that speaks to me. Looking back on prior GTRs, I couldn't say any of those are attractive. I think in time it will age well.
The Vette isn't a car I want to own. It's not great at the limit. On paper it's an amazing car and certainly a lot of value by it goes from 5/10ths to 10/10ths in a nonlinear fashion. Around here you're either a young kid rocking a c5 or an old dude with gold chains, fake tan and cruise at the speed limit in your auto.
Let me know how your test drives go. I'm monitoring private sale deals. Lots of great dealer options if you're willing that are just sitting on the lot.
08-20-2017, 01:06 PM
#19
Thanks for all the responses. Wish i knew how to multi quote lol. I pretty much agree with everything that has been said, except the LS swap. I'm definitely not into that. I feel like the swap changes the s2k plus i dont like the sound of that motor in the s2k. I feel like you should just buy a vette. I'd rather turbo my s2k if anything. Honestly I think a gtr might be in my future, I do wish it came in manual. I hate the fact NA2's are so expensive, because if money were not option I'd TT a NA2 or get the new viper and call it a day. To some extent I feel like the gtr is a happy medium. I have cross shopped a c6zr1 but want to try AWD especially since the viper and NA2 are not in my budget. I know looks are subjective but I do like the look of the gtr. I think it might be time to go for some test drives...
I see S2000 as a very capable platform and not due to the engine at all, but chassis, feel and capability, they are touge kings, add more power it becomes an all rounder.. A turbo changes them just as much as an LS, totally different animals, same weight penalty and yes the sound is subjective and each to their own.
Just don't be disappointed when you can't really drift much or do burnouts with AWD. People shouting 'do a burnout' will get tiresome, quickly
Enjoy it either way though - sounds like you've done your homework.
08-20-2017, 07:20 PM
#20
Neither cars were daily drivers and I have multiple cars to use, so YMMV. Just my $0.02.
FWIW, I will not be selling the current S2000 that I have, and I am not looking to purchase a GTR in the future. You're either a Supra/GTR/Vette million horsepower, straight line speed guy or you're not.